Iowa reports 565 new COVID-19 cases, 9 deaths Wednesday

Iowa on Wednesday reported 565 new COVID-19 cases and nine new, confirmed deaths.

To date, 343,912 Iowans have tested positive for the virus, and 5,666 have died, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Iowa's seven-day average for new cases is 415, the lowest since 401 on July 5.

Of the new cases, 73 were among young people up to the age of 17, bringing the total number of children who have tested positive for the virus to 39,219.

Vaccinations

As of 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, 1,140,550 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed in Iowa, with 1,096,699 of those doses going to Iowa residents. Both totals are up by more than 25,000 from Tuesday.

Across the state, 425,030 people have been fully vaccinated.

Of those, 396,491 are Iowans - the equivalent of 16.26 percent of Iowa's adult population (16 and older) and 12.93 percent of Iowa's total population.

State officials said 394,555 people have completed the Moderna or Pfizer two-shot vaccines, and the remaining individuals - 30,475 - received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

In Linn County, 84,634 vaccine doses have been administered. Of those, 33,176 people are fully vaccinated - or 18.39 percent of the county's adult population and 14.63 percent of the county's total population.

In Johnson County, 67,845 vaccine doses have been administered. Of those, 23,691 people are fully vaccinated - or 21.23 percent of the county's adult population and 17.46 percent of the county's total population.

Expanded eligibility

Starting April 5, all Iowans will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccines, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced during a news conference Wednesday.

So long as the federal government fulfills the projected allotment of vaccine doses to Iowa in the meantime, Reynolds said the state will open eligibility for the vaccine to all Iowans.

The governor said she will provide another update next week after another conference call with federal officials.

Earlier this month, eligibility was expanded to include Iowans 64 and younger with certain health conditions.

The expansion set off a frenzy of Iowans hunting for appointments through disparate online reservation system. Because the state has advised pharmacies not to require documentation of medical conditions, there are no restrictions - beyond the honor system - for anyone age 16 and up to sign up for a vaccine.

That expansion left some advocates worried the system will leave behind seniors, who were prioritized in the early vaccine phases but who now must compete with everyone else trying to snag a shot.

Iowa's vaccine dashboard says people ages 60-plus have received about 58 percent of the vaccines given in the state, but it doesn't say what share of Iowa seniors have been vaccinated.

Deaths

Wednesday's nine confirmed deaths took place between Jan. 31 and March 13.

Three of the deaths were of individuals over the age of 80, three were between 61 and 80 and three were 41 to 60.

Polk and Scott counties reported two deaths each. Counties with one death each were Black Hawk, Fremont, Jackson, Muscatine, Warren and Winneshiek counties.

One death that was originally assigned to Delaware County was removed from that county's tally and reassigned to an unspecified county, bringing the Wednesday's total to nine.

Hospitalizations

Across the state, COVID-19 hospitalizations dipped slightly from 162 to 161 Wednesday.

The number of patients in intensive care units ticked up from 40 to 41 and patients on ventilators remained at 21.

Long-term care

Iowa is now down to one virus outbreak in a long-term care facility - Vista Woods Care Center in Ottumwa, where 13 individuals were being treated for COVID-19.

Since the start of the pandemic, 2,223 people have died from the virus in Iowa long-term care facilities. That's 39.2 percent of the state's death toll.

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